Exploring the Relationships of Atmospheric Water Vapor Contents and Different Land Surfaces in a Complex Terrain Area by Using Doppler Radar

• Published in: Atmosphere 2021-05, Vol.12 (5), p.528
• Main Authors: Lou, Hezhen, Zhang, Jun, Yang, Shengtian, Cai, Mingyong, Ren, Xiaoyu, Luo, Ya, Li, Chaojun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Atmospheric boundary layer; Atmospheric water; Atmospheric water vapor; Boundary layers; Climate change; complex orography; Construction planning; Disaster management; Disasters; Doppler radar; Doppler sonar; Elevation; Extreme values; Genetic transformation; Global positioning systems; GPS; Influence; land surface; Meteorological radar; Orography; Precipitation; Radar; Radiation; Radiometers; Remote sensing; Resolution; Temporal resolution; Terrain; Topography; Transformations; Water bodies; Water vapor; Water vapor content; Water vapour; Weather radar; Wind
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos12050528

Changes in atmospheric water vapor mainly occur in the atmospheric boundary layer. However, due to many factors, such as orography and ground thermal dynamic conditions, the change trends and transformation law of atmospheric water vapor contents above different surfaces are still unclear. In this work, a Doppler weather radar with high spatial-temporal resolution was used to monitor the variations and transformations of water vapor contents over different land surfaces for two years. The results show that the atmospheric water vapor content shows a very good positive correlation with elevation at altitudes between 600 m and 1200 m, while different land surfaces have delicate impacts on atmospheric water vapor contents, such as extreme values appearing above impervious urban surfaces, uniform distributions appearing over water body and vegetated surfaces being wet but avoiding extreme conditions. Compared with previous studies, the results and conclusions of this study are mainly derived from accurate direct observations based on high-resolution radar. Identifying the distribution and transformation of water vapor over different surfaces can enhance our understanding of the movement and variation of atmospheric water vapor over complex terrain and different land surfaces, and improve the planning and construction capacity of different surfaces, such that humankind can mitigate the severe disasters caused by drastic changes in atmospheric water vapor.